There may be some cracks forming in the egg market in the US. In recent months, consumers have a harsh reality: fewer eggs at higher prices.
In the first week of March, wholesale -loose egg prices fell at $ 1.20, with a average of $ 6.85 a dozen at the national level, a 15% drop over the previous week, the agriculture department (USDA) said in its latest market report.
This is the value that retailers pay, not consumers – but it is a potentially encouraging sign and an indication that egg prices can begin to fall into supermarkets.
“Demand for eggs continues to decrease in this new month, as no significant outbreak of HPAI [gripe aviária] It was detected in almost two weeks. This break provided an opportunity for production to advance the reduction of recent egg scarcity, ”USDA said in its Egg Markets Overview report.
This Wednesday (12), President Donald Trump took the credit for the fall in egg prices.
“We did it, we did a lot of things. We have a great secretary of agriculture, and we did a lot to substantially lower the cost of eggs, ”said the president of the Oval Hall.
But consumers are still paying high prices in the supermarket.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced last month a plan to invest $ 1 billion in strategies to contain the increase in egg prices, but recognized in an opinion article in Wall Street Journal That this “won’t erase the problem overnight.”
She said the egg market will not stabilize for more “three to six months.”
So far, this forecast is materializing in the market.
“Egg prices are setting new records in 2025,” wrote Bernt Nelson, an economist at American Farm Bureau Federation in a new report released last Tuesday (11).
“About 12 million birds, mostly layers, were lost in February, raising the total number of birds affected so far in 2025 to over 35 million and further boosting egg prices.”
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This represents a slowdown in relation to the 15.2% increase in January. In comparison year by year, egg prices rose 58.8% last month.
Avian flu killed 127 million bird birds since 2022 – gangs that had to be sacrificed, which led to the scarcity of higher eggs and prices.
The Trump government plan to reduce egg prices requires an increase in biosafety, a mobilization of epidemiologists to work with egg producers, exploring new vaccines, as well as increasing egg imports.
Mexico and Turkey are sending a total of 827,000 dozen eggs to compensate for the scarcity of supply in the US, according to USDA.
But egg prices are likely to rise again soon: Easter season will bring a renewed egg demand, similar to that observed during Thanksgiving, Natal and Hanukkah.
The lowest demand in the weeks prior to holidays can give egg producers time to rebuild part of their stock, USDA said in its report. But while this can help with supply, prices can still increase.
“We are entering the Easter season. This is always the highest egg price period. We hope it may go up again, but it’s good news, as we released our plan about a week and a half ago, ”said Rollins, pointing to a fall in wholesale egg prices.
And although Easter and Jewish celebration are later than normal this year – April 12 and 20, respectively – the holidays also coincide with the migration of spring.
“Egg producers are closely monitoring the migration of wild birds, recognizing that these animals are a major cause of the spread of this virus and represent a large and continuous threat to egg -producing flocks,” Emily Metz, president of the American Egg Board, said.
